Lab Equipment and Consumables

Company News

Mettler-Toledo and SOTAX announced in April a marketing and sales partnership for dissolution testing. The companies will integrate their respective V7 Excellence spectrophotometer and SOTAX Xtend Dissolution Line.

Baker Ruskinn, a manufacturer and marketer of anaerobic and physiological oxygen workstations for use in life sciences research, stem cell biology and microbiology applications, entered into a partnership with I&L Biosystems for UK distribution, effective April 1.

In May, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced an exclusive agreement to distribute Phononics’ Evolve products, which are based on compressor-free, solid state refrigeration technology, for the life science and health care markets. The companies previously collaborated on the Thermo Scientific TSX 505 Series high-performance undercounter lab refrigerators.

SP Industries in May named James Schmidt as senior vice president of Sales for the company’s SP Scientific equipment division. Most recently Mr. Schmidt served as the head of Pharma/Biotech Sales, North America, for MilliporeSigma,

In May, BroadOak Capital Partners announced a partnership in which Astero will acquire the former assets and all related asset rights of MedCision from BroadOak. In conjunction with the acquisition, Astero will receive growth capital investment from BroadOak. Astero Bio is spearheaded by former critical members of the MedCision senior management team.

In June, Gilson announced partnerships with three new distributors for Brazil to sell its manual liquid handling products: BioResearch do Brasil, Sinapse Biotecnologia and Pensabio. Gilson has distributed its products in Brazil since 1992.

For the fiscal half year ending May 31, revenue for Porvair’s newly created Laboratory operating segment rose 20.8% to £18.5 million ($25.2 million) in constant currency (see Bottom Line). Organic revenue declined 5.5% to £13.0 million ($17.7 million). Acquisitions contributed £5.6 million ($7.6 million). The company disclosed it paid £2.7 million ($3.7 million) to acquire Rohasys (see IBO 12/15/17).

Product Introductions

In February, Cole-Parmer released the TELOS MicroPlate plates, which is optimized for the sample processing and extraction of small-volume biological fluids. The TELOS MicroPlate plates are available in 5 mg and 10 mg sorbent masses. The 5 mg plate allows elution volumes of 50 μL.

In June, Eppendorf introduced the Protein LoBind Conical Tubes to minimize the risk of non-specific protein and peptide samples sticking to the walls of the tubes.

Pharma Test launched in June the PTWS 1420, a new 14+2 station dissolution testing instrument, ideal for comparative studies such as biowaiver tests.

In June, Uniqsis introduces the FlowLab Plus, a versatile flow chemistry system built around the Uniqsis Binary Pump dual-channel reagent delivery system. The system is configured to run both manual and automated flow chemistry reactions.

Lab Automation

Company Announcements

Brooks Life Sciences and Cleveland Clinic announced in May plans to create a 21,000 ft² (1,951 m²) biorepository in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood to enhance researchers’ study of human tissue samples and advance personalized medicine for an array of conditions, including cancer, heart disease and epilepsy. The building is expected be completed in summer 2019.

In May, Hamilton Robotics partnered with Intra Globus Biosystems for India. Integrated Gulf Biosystems is a subsidiary ot the company that has been collaborating with Hamilton for more than 10 years in the Middle East.

Hamilton Storage GmbH announced in June that it has relocated all operations to an industrial park in Domat/Ems, Switzerland. Other Hamilton affiliate entities will follow. The 161,458 ft² (15,000 m²) building includes an automated parts warehouse and customized production area for large compound-storage systems.

In June, Andrew Alliance raised $14 million, closing a Series C funding round. Investors include Tecan and Waters.

Product Introductions

Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced in June the new Thermo Scientific TriPlus RSH AutoSampler and Liquid Handling System with Robotic Tool Change for a wide range of sample processing needs. The system has been integrated with 50,000 analytical instruments.

Electrochemistry

Product Introductions

In April, Seal Analytical released the new AQ270 entry-level Discrete Analyzer, developed to meet the needs of a smaller laboratory with a limited budget.

TOYO launched in May the LT1000 Ion Impurity Measurement System, calling it the first laboratory instrument able to characterize and quantify both organic and inorganic ion impurity in liquid-based substances. The instrument can be used to not only test critical LCD components and subcomponents but also OLED ones relied upon by the display industry. It offers measurements in the ppt range and conducts a complete measurement cycle in less than a second.

In May, Metrohm introduced a fully automated solution for the determination of Total Acid Number (TAN) and Total Base Number (TBN) in up to 112 samples. This solution is based on the OMNIS Sample Robot.